Referencing
You will need to cite research in your work through academic referencing.
This means acknowledging the sources you use:
- in the body of your work, referred to as a citation or in-text referencing
- as a list of all citations at the end, referred to as a bibliography or reference list
The idea is that someone reading your work can identify and find the sources you’ve used for themselves so they have to include essential information about that source. There are many different styles used for laying out the information for a reference.
The referencing style used by Biosciences is usually Vancouver style but check with your module convenor.
Finding the reference information for a resource.
A physical source will have all the information you need on the front and title pages but most sources you use will be digital.
When searching for ebooks, journal articles and other academic papers you will usually find a “citation” that you copy and paste into your work.
For websites, podcasts, blogs and other media you will have to create a citation from the information given.
How to reference books, articles, journals, etc
Cite them Right is an interactive referencing tool to help you get to grips with the basics of referencing. Here you can learn how to reference anything in your chosen reference style from books, articles, websites, videos, to social media posts in your research.
You will need to be logged into Cite Them Right to view their referencing guides!
Make an appointment to discuss referencing
The Student Learning Advisory Service can also support you with referencing and avoiding plagiarism. The team has developed a number of guides available on their webpages. You can also book a one-to-one appointment with them or simply ask them a question.
Book a referencing appointment with Student Learning Advisory Service
Use a reference management tool to sort and format your references
Reference management tools allow you to save and sort your references, as well as insert citations and bibliographies into your assignments.
We recommend using either Mendeley or Zotero reference management tools.
Watch our quick 5 minute guides to using reference management tools: